"We pulled tape from Syracuse, the team he coached," DeBoer said. "Some of their tendencies I assume he's going to implement here. You saw some of that starting to happen the other night (vs.) Buffalo, some things they're doing differently than under Guy Boucher. So I think we have a as good a handle as you can have on how he wants to play and the stuff he's going to try and implement."

DeBoer said it is important to get Ponikarovsky back.

"He's' an identity player for us. We're a big, heavy team when we're playing the way we want to play," he said.

Dainius Zubrus continues to skate in New Jersey and is getting closer to a return from left wrist surgery.

"Good reports on his progress at home," DeBoer said. "We'll see (when he is ready to play) when we get home."

* * *

Patrik Elias was asked what he did during the team's stay at a Tampa area resort.

"I beat badly one of my teammates, from Czech, in racquetball," he said with a smirk. "Now we're both paying for it. Running around, stopping and starting after four months of just skating doesn't help the legs."

That would be Marek Zidlicky.

"Patty beat me," Zidlicky admitted before storming off with a smile.

Elias said there is more pressure on the Pittsburgh Penguins now than on the rest of the Eastern Conference after they acquired Jarome Iginla.

"The pressure is all on them now," Elias said.

With Iginla leaving Calgary, he said players don't spend their entire careers with one team.

"Not anymore," he said.

Does that mean Elias would like to have the chance to make a list of Stanley Cup contenders he'd like to join via a trade?

"Nobody asked me," he said with a grin. "Yet."

But Elias can put himself in Iginla's place.

"Yes. He hasn't been in the playoffs the last few years. He never had a chance to win the Cup," he said. "He can always make a decision after the season to go back to Calgary. This is a great opportunity for him, no question."